


The Man Dressed in Red

by Hollenka99



Series: Whumpril [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Confessions, Deathbed Confession, Gen, Major Character Injury, Stabbing, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 16:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18369557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollenka99/pseuds/Hollenka99
Summary: While bleeding out from a stab wound, one of the egos tells the others something that changes everything.





	The Man Dressed in Red

**Author's Note:**

> I also used this prompt:
> 
> 'You are on your deathbed, surrounded by your loved ones. They are attentively waiting what may be your final words. Describe the scene, what you say, and the last precious moments of life.'
> 
> When 'He/Him' etc is capitalised, it's referring to the ego whose POV this is.

The man dressed in red barely makes it home. Each step is a stumble. At times, He forgets how exactly to return home in the first place. He can't call anyone. That would likely result in Him being exposed.

The increasing desire to take a break also makes the journey back a struggle. Despite knowing full well succumbing to the fatigue would be the worst thing to do, He stopped caring fairly quickly. On top of everything, He can't even think straight either. There are probably medical procedures that should be performed on Him. If there are, He can't remember what they should be. The one thing He does recall is to keep as much blood inside Him as He can. The rest will have to be the others' responsibility.

Why did He have to get stabbed in the first place? Under the impression some mugger wouldn't be too much of a challenge, especially compared to other types of wrongdoer, He'd foolishly engaged with the criminal. He had miscalculated. Not noticing the guy was armed, the 'hero' had gotten too close. And now? Now He was pounding with a bloodied fist on His front door.

Jameson is the one to greet Him. It only takes a moment for his warm smile to vanish at the sight of his friend's condition. A palm bangs against the wall in an attempt to alert the vlogger and magician. Jameson takes His left arm over his shoulder while Chase does the same for His right. Marvin sprints ahead towards the medical bay in preparation for whatever they frantically decide to do to Him.

"Put him on the table." Marvin commands. Out of the corner of His eye, He catches glimpses of Marvin grabbing his phone and forcing numbers in.  
Now lying on a flat surface, He allows His eyes droop. If He could rest for a few minutes... "No! No, don't do that. Oh God, Marv. Jackie, you have to stay awake, okay buddy? Can you do that? It's what Schneep would be telling you to do. And he's going to be here as soon as we can get ahold of him."  
"Henrik, I will kill you!" A ghost of a smile appears on His face as Marvin screams at his phone. Something tells Him the magician would have to wait in line. "And Jameson, will you stop just standing there?! Help Chase put pressure on the wound and keep Jackie conscious."

Chattering surrounds him. Good strategy. If Chase can keep Him responsive, maybe He would be able to learn from His mistakes. In that situation, He would happily get shouted at.

It doesn't take long for Him to choose to stop faking his accent. He's so tired. There isn't even a point to pretending anymore. Why did He decide to take his place? Probably to protect him. He would do something like that. Would He? Yes, it was His job to save people, wasn't it? This was the first time His life had been at stake though. Usually, it was other way around. How did His friend do it, constantly putting himself in danger with frequently negative repercussions, only to do it all over again as soon as he was healed enough to be functional?

Beside Him, Jameson is tearfully grasping His hand. There's pressure on His stomach. Chase appears panicked, head turning towards Him every few moments in a frantic fashion. Almost as if in the distance, Marvin vents at his phone. The doctor wasn't going to pick up, He could guarantee that. They should start stitching instead of panicking.

What would be helpful was a nap. He knows for a fact that rest was imperative for recovery. Allowing Himself to shut his eyes, He remembers they need to know.

"He is downstairs."  
\---  
He finds Jackie watching some show in the living room. He doesn't know what it is and He doesn't particularly care right at this moment. As inconvenient as the timing is, the window of opportunity to pull this off is brief. He cannot allow it to slip away. Chase and Jameson are busy hanging out in town and Marvin was stuck in his room, as usual. If he's going to do this at all, it has to be now. He can switch the television off when he's done.

"I need to ask you something."  
"Sure." The hero doesn't glance away from the screen.  
"By showing you."  
"Oh, okay. Give me a sec." The programme is paused.

He leads the hero to His lab in the basement. Down here was where He performed experiments and learned how He could improve the care He gave the others. Some of Marvin's potions were stored here too. He makes sure Jackie is the first to enter the room. All the better to execute his plan.

"Okay, we're in your lab. Now what?"  
"I'm sorry I have to do this."  
"That doesn't make you sound like some cliché villain at all." The superhero rolls his eyes.  
"I'm forcing you to take a break."  
"Okay... then what? I kinda have a job to do, you know. If I put my feet up for a few days, the bad guys are going to notice and take advantage of it."  
"I already thought of that. I will take your place."  
"No way." Jackie chuckles in disbelief. "There's not a chance in hell I'm going to allow that. Trust me, I'm fine."  
"What about your wrist? You can't fight with a bad hand."  
"It was just a sprain, dude. And it wasn't even on my dominant hand."  
"You still hurt yourself. You need to stop and look after your body for once. You sacrify your safety too much."  
"At least I have powers. You would have nothing to defend yourself with, not even heightened senses. They'll get the jump on you. And how are you going to fool the others into thinking you're me? You're the least able to imitate any one of us. Your accent is a dead give-away. Think this through."  
Putting on his best impression of Jackie, he steps back. "I am going to be fine. I will be back soon. Then you'll see how okay I am."

Instead of continuing the disagreement, the doctor swiftly turns around and slams the door shut. As it is locked with the key, the door is assaulted by a superhero with unnatural strength in protest.

As soon as he begins walking away, Jackie increases the volume of his arguing. "Henrik, listen to me. Come on, stop being so stupid. Henrik. Hen-"

"-rik! Henrik, wake up, damn it."

Chase barely acknowledges the real Jackie when he races into the room, Marvin seconds behind him. The only thing the superhero can do is watch as desperately ineffective effort is made to revive their beloved doctor.

**Author's Note:**

> I used one of those randomiser wheels to pick who to kill. It kept telling me to kill Henrik. I kept resisting until I gave up and said "Fine, you want Henrik dead so badly, I'll make Henrik die in front of his friends."


End file.
